Among the controversies being whipped up by members of the Kansas Board of Education recently is the use of certain books in Kansas literature classes.

Board Chairman Steve Abrams focused a recent attack on the Blue Valley school district in Johnson County, which he claimed was “promulgating pornography as ‘literature.'” Abrams’ comments apparently lit a fire with members of the Johnson County Republican Party, which now is seeking to have a statement on the issue included in the state GOP platform.

First, it’s important to recognize that none of the books drawing Abrams’ ire meet the legal definition of being obscene. Some of the books in question in the Blue Valley district are “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison; “Black Boy,” by Richard Wright and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” by Ken Kesey. These books contain stories and content that some people find disturbing. They contain language that some people see as profane or even obscene. But, taken as a whole, these books are not without redeeming social value. They are not pornography.

Like Harper Lee’s classic “To Kill A Mockingbird” a couple of generations ago, the books that are stirring controversy now discuss human stories that make people uncomfortable, but they are stories about life. The fact that they sometimes are troubling makes them worthy of discussion, especially the type of thoughtful discussion that can take place in the controlled setting of a school classroom.

It’s true that state law protects Kansas teachers from prosecution for promoting obscenity to minors if the materials they are using are “part of or incident to an approved course or program of instruction.” The provision is necessary to protect university teachers who may need to use materials that qualify as obscene to teach certain courses – clinical classes examining deviant behaviors, for example. However, because critics have yet to identify any books being taught in Kansas high schools that qualify as obscene, those teachers aren’t affected by the legal exemption.

Abrams and others are seeking to portray this issue as an attempt to give parents more control over their children’s education. On the contrary, giving the state more control over books that are taught in local public schools reduces the role of local school boards and actually places those decisions further out of reach for parents.

Fortunately, at least some state legislators are skeptical of pursuing any law to control the selection of books for public school classes. Sen. Jean Schodorf, a Wichita Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee, reduced the argument to this question: “There’s no pornography in the schools, so why have a law? We have enough other concerns in education, so why create a law that affects things that aren’t happening?”

We agree. State legislators should let local school boards and administrators deal with any controversies about the literature being taught in local schools and focus their attention on issues of far greater importance to the quality of education being offered to Kansas students.